TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin How hard is it to travel to SXM?

It has been a long time since we have been to St. Maarten. The last time we were there was right before the big hurricane that destroyed the island in 2017. We have missed going to the island, but as you all know this Covid crap put a damper in many peoples plans.

Well, we're ready to go back to St. Maarten, but I would like some advice. I have been reading things, but much is outdated and other things are just hard to understand. This forum has always been the best information source out there because of the great people on here. So, away we go.

We are planning on going in middle of January of 23 and staying until March 30 or so. Booking a long time in advance is a must as most of you know, if you want to find the best location and places to stay, so I'd like to book within the next month. Who knows what the process will be like when the time comes to fill out any paperwork that needs to be filled out, or if there even is any to be filled out when the time comes to get ready to go by next year. No one can predict the future, but what are your thoughts on this.

Since I will be 63 when going to SM, I probably will need to start looking at some health insurance for safety sake. What do many of you do for health insurance when on the island?

Renting a car is a must for us since we like to go to different beaches, but we have never rented a car for such a long period. Has anyone rented one for a 60 day or longer period. Do they give you a better rate for such an extended period of time. I will be doing some checking as time goes on, but I just wanted to touch base on this here to see if anyone has done this or not.

I'm sure I have left out many things that I need to ask, but I'll just ask those questions later when they happen to pop into my head.
Thanks so much for your time.

RIght now, it is very easy if you have the Vaccine and booster, as for next year, who knows, but that wouldn't stop me . We went last year, and there were a lot more hurdles than this year, but went anyway based on reports on here that it was worth the effort, and we agreed. Yes, you have to reserve far in advance to get what you want, in some ways, the hurricane, then Irma, made us get a little spoiled because there were less people on the island, this year it seemed much more crowded, though probably still not to pre Irma days.

A booster is NOT required.

These things are nice to know. I have had a booster, but by that time another one may or may not be required. Who knows what the future holds.

What do people do for travel insurance? (which applies to health, car, Covid, etc) a comprehensive one, I guess?

I think the rental car is going to be the problem. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on a car that will be used minimally, but still be used daily. Any suggestions?
Thanks again.

I would start shopping the rental cars and expect to pay more than in the past. A lot can change between now and January but I would start looking.

Read the CURRENT EHAS entry requirements for what the FACTS are now. I would expect this to change again as well.

LINK

Is $50 a day the going rate for a car in SXM nowadays? I got my first quote back. $3000 for 60 days.

We just paid about $50.00 a day for two weeks so I would assume you could do better for long term. Check with your credit card for collision insurance. There use to be a max of 30 days.

What size vehicle? I would get one of their tiny ones if I need to.

I'll be paying 732.00 for 4 weeks this May for a mid size including liability from Hertz. I'm sure you could do better depending on high or low season.

I probably won't be needing liability as I may possibly be purchasing a comprehensive insurance which will have liability included for this trip anyway. But even with that $1464 compared to $3000 is a big difference. It will be from the middle of Jan to the end of March in 2023. Things will change some I'm sure by that time, but I hope it is for the better.

Can anyone answer the question about a comprehensive insurance? It will include car rental, health etc. Does anyone buy that type of insurance for safety sake? I'm going to be 63, but in good health as far as I know. What do a lot of people on here do? Thanks.

The paperwork has been getting easier to deal with within the last year that we traveled to our "home" This time last year, we waited almost a full 24 hours before we finally got it all sorted out and approved! Long term rentals: Beachside villa's on White sands road in Beacon Hill. We love it so much, I tell newbies (not you) You will want for nothing!!! Contact Tracy Mascarin for rates and bookings. http://www.beachsidevillas.com/ Car rental: Few years ago ( long story short) we tried SAX rental company. The service is great, the rates IMHO can't be beat! Contact Cindy Puran and her lovely husband Anil! I would venture into saying that if you mention this thread, they will work with you on a long term rental. https://www.saxcarrental.com/ 3 months, Now that's the way to do it! Get out of this cold weather in the states!! Have a great time!

Scotty,
Go to insuremytrip.com. You will find the coverage you need there from several different carriers. Personally, we use Allianz at allianztravelinsurance.com.

SXMScubaman. Watch out for Hertz. They sent me a revised confirmation about 3 weeks before we arrived and more than doubled our original quote. Sounds like it happened to a lot of people.

Ready to fly on Sunday. Both EHAS forms pre-approved in less than two hours.

Been using them for over 20 years to St Maarten. Never a problem.

My main question about the insurance is, do people actually get it, and if so, what kind do they get? I'm not necessarily interested so much in brand, but what kind of insurance.

Thanks so much to everyone for their wonderful contributions. It really helps.

We get our out of the USA travel health insurance from Trawick International but there are MANY companies available. We paid $163 for two of us for two weeks of coverage (price by age).....you can tweak each policy to include what you need. We deferred on the trip insurance part because we used miles and had a timeshare. You can also include rental car coverage but not sure on the time limit...

Here is a generalized version of our policy.

https://portal.trawickinternational.com/document/brochure/200/


www.trawickinternational.com

So, how long have you been getting the health insurance part of it for your travels?

Maybe four years....we have a great Medicare Advantage Plan but it doesn't cover us out of the USA. Plus the Trawick plan has decent evac coverage. You can add more to it (car, travel, etc) but we just do the medical and get the other auto included stuff.

We are fortunate. Our Medicar Advantage plan covers out of network and out of USA.

Our Advantage plan only covers 80% out of the country, which leaves a huge gap. We ALWAYS buy medical insurance now, that includes medical evac coverage. Have done that for the past 10 years or so.

We have used both Insuremytrip and The Trip Insurance Store, same prices but the customer service with Trip Insurance Store was much much better. Steve and his crew are great and know their stuff and have helped me NOT pay too much many times.